The Kumulipo: The Ancient Hawaiian Creation Legend

The Kumulipo: Ancient Hawaiian Creation legend

June 01, 2021

Shaka Guide

Every culture in the world has a way of recording history. However, the Hawaiian language had no written form. There were no books, letters, or Hawaiian alphabet like we have today. Instead, history was passed down orally through songs, chants, and dance. An important chant called the Kumulipo records the Hawaiian view of the creation story. It starts with the creation of the universe and human beings and ends with the genealogy of royalty. It takes over 3 hours to perform!

According to Kumulipo, in the beginning, there was utter darkness inseparably connected to an invisible intelligence. This darkness is Papahānaumoku, the mother of Gods, the earth, and the underworld. And then there was the creative light from Wakea or sky father.

Together, Papahānaumoku and Wakea created a universe of opposites, light, and darkness, land, and sky, different yet equal to each other. They had a daughter, Hoʻohokukalani, which literally means the creator of the stars. Wakea had wandering eyes and desired his daughter Ho’ohokukalani. Together, they gave birth to Kalo - who sadly was an unformed fetus born prematurely. They buried Kalo into the earth, and from this grew a Taro plant.

This odd couple had another child, Haloa, who was healthy and strong. Haloa became the first man on the newly formed earth, and was the first Ali'i Nui - or high-ranking chief - and the ancestor to all Hawaiian people.

But what could men eat? As the story goes, the Taro plant that grew from his deceased brother was a bulb-like root that was starchy, similar to potatoes and yam. Taro became the main sustenance to feed the first man Haloa and the rest of the human race and it's what the Hawaiians ate as a main part of their diet. Consequently, the Taro plant is highly respected in Hawaii, as a living symbol of the origins of humankind.

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